Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Some thoughts on Travel-Tag-Team Expansion Franchises. And NHL Expansion

With as many games MLB and NHL teams play, I'd like to see this model take root there.
Or the NBA.

A travel-tag-team is one, much like the Kansas City-Omaha Kings were a shared team in the NBA.  A good merger in the future would be for the Athletics to also play in Las Vegas and recoining their name to the "West Coast" Athletics.  The Raiders could do the same thing.

For the footballs, those games are generally happening twice a month at home.  So, if there was to be a team for two towns, that's an appearance before the home-camp crowd of once a month.  The reason MLS and the NFL can happen more readily in many more places is the number of football stadiums, including major college ones that are available across the map.  All the NFL would need to play in Birmingham is maybe a month ahead of time and an assurance that the Roll Tide were at a road game.  Or, a days turn-around for the field crew from a Saturday to Sunday game.  But cutting home games in half with that spread is not fair to football or futball fans.  I would look more towards this happening with 40 games in two places for one team in baseball or 20 for hockey or basketball.
             Pictured below is Winterhawks hockey in Portland.  Does Bayhawks sound good, too?

There are gaping vacancies in the sports world like Los Angeles for the NFL (and hopefully the Rams will be back there soon).  Some vacancies are not humongous but they're always a thought.  Population and passion are of consideration for Portland, Charlotte and Montreal with nostalgic dreams for the likes of New Orleans and Nashville.  The NBA has plenty of major league places without ( click:  Without the NBA ).  MLS has plenty of places to grow into.  I find the biggest gapper outside of football in Los Angeles or Las Vegas for anything to be the northwest for hockey.  I even think Portland should get ice hockey above another dessert or mediterranean spot.

California coastal and Arizona dessert have ice hockey but not the fog horn confines of Portland and Seattle!
Let's just be fixated on citrus and tumbleweeds and consider more and more Mediterranean Dessert Climate sandwiches!   Durrrrrrrrr.
Do the tag-travel-team model in the NHL first.  And if not in the Bigs, do it at the AHL/ECHL level.  I would much prefer this 4 team expansion to see a Las Vegas - Portland combination named West Coast taking on the Seattle expansion.


 prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/
prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/ 
See more expansion, co-location and relocation talk for football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer on my blog http://prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/ 
     samples below


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